We are the Bridge and the Way

Letting go of obsessions, fixations - do we really need these things, these people or these feelings, to feel good about ourselves? Or are they just excuses to remain trapped, to not expand our consciousness, to remain small and stuck and sad? And yes, sometime new fears can pop up, but by looking deep within ourselves we can sometimes find the root of those fears and that root is nothing new. It may be something we've been avoiding or denying for a long time.

Are we just passing the time, filling the space? No! We are transforming, ascending, deepening our connection with source. We are transcending human bonds, becoming pure energy, resonating with pure beauty, expressing love.

We are becoming one with Mother Nature - fecund, fertile, prolific, as we dance in space yet remain earth-rooted, feeling and knowing both mystical ascension and earthy sensuality. We are the bridge. We are the way.

Receive, give thanks, be.

You can't put a price tag on your soul, just as you can't price out passion, art or creative expression.

Inside the dome after experiencing a Sound Healing Bath at the Integratron, Landers, CA

"Put your hand over the side of the boat What do you feel?"

From the song "A Coral Room" from the album "Aerial" by Kate Bush

Connecting with the Ancestors (Mediumship)

When I work as a medium to make a connection with the ancestors I find that it stirs up many emotions for my clients: ~ feelings of joy and sadness ~ eternal love ~ recognition of undying bonds with loved ones ~ feelings of security and trust that loved ones are always near by ~ release and forgiveness ~ conversation ~ reconciliation ~ strengthening of bonds ~ connection ~ a deep and peaceful knowing and trust in the Divine

In their own words:

"I just wanted to let you know that I am focusing on what I really want...and working on the visualizing that Grandma communicated to you. I feel more centered, and more on track that I have for ages." Simone, Australia

"Your Ancestor Reading gave me a HUGE exhale moment. Emotions that I have buried far too long are being released...although it is sad, it is also cleansing. I have waited 32 years to exhale. Each day since the reading, I am taking the pieces you handed me and filling in the spaces. You have opened up a whole new world for me...thank you doesn't begin to describe my gratitude." RuthAnn Dickinson, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

"Now I am able to block out unwanted contacts from "the other side" virtually all of the time and when something does get through, it no longer freaks me out...I'm sleeping better and I'm not afraid all the time." Aleta.

This post was inspired by a recent 'spirit conversation' that I held with my own ancestors - my paternal grandparents, Ethel and Jim - a feisty, truthful, and very helpful chat. Thanks dear ones!

Aquarius New Moon Musings

New Moon Musings

New Moon In Aquarius

February 13, 2010

This month’s New Moon is in the sign of Aquarius, a fixed air sign. You know the type…usually on the outer edge of everything peering in, or lost in space, or surrounded by a large group of friends, but not really close to any of them.

Aquarians are known for their independence, individuality and detachment. Their shadow side comes out in contrariness, rebellion and emotional unavailability.

Moon in Aquarius calls us to the circle, collaboration and collectivization. We recognize that what one does effects us all. We tend the web of community as natural team-builders.

More Aquarian Stuff

Aquarius – the water bearer

Time of Year – Winter, Imbolc

Quality – fixed

Element – air

Ruler – Uranus

Anatomy – bloodstream, circulation, shins, ankles

Natural sign of – 11th house

Opposite sign – Leo

Color – electric blue, turquoise, silver

Gemstone – obsidian, opal, sapphire

Tarot card – the star

Goddesses – Feng P’O P’O, Freya, Ix Chel, Nut, Tien-Mu

More About The Lunar Cycles

The new moon is the perfect time of the month to plant seeds of intention for the month ahead. It is a time of trust, of beginnings and of letting go into intuition. The new moon lies in darkness, not yet reflecting the light of the sun, so our intentions may not yet be fully revealed to us and therefore trust is necessary - trust and faith that your newly planted seeds are indeed germinating beneath ground.

Allow the moon maiden/mother/crone to be your touchstone for balance, serenity and divine knowing. Let her cool, pale fingers touch your spirit as your soul flows knowingly, calmly, and with strength into divine being-ness. Allow her to be your support system to keep you pure, whole, holy and connected with your soul’s true purpose. Bless her as you bless yourself, for truly, we are all One.

The moon changes signs approximately every 2 ½ days, going through all twelve signs of the Zodiac every 29 ½ days. The sign that the moon is in reflects qualities of your inner self and being-ness. Each month there is at least one new moon that will rise at sunrise and set at sunset. Astrologically speaking this means that the sun and the moon are in conjunction.

My version of Aquarius

Abraxia is part of a series of left handed drawings I created over a period of five years. To me she represents the essence of Aquarius – independent, unusual, and “Nut-like” – as in the Egyptian Goddess Nut, ruler of the night sky. It’s a good idea to keep Abraxia in front of you as you prepare to answer her questions, and yes, she does like an audience although she may not admit it! So keep a pen and paper handy to take notes starting off with how she makes you feel – first impressions are best.

Abraxia’s Questions:

When have you gone out on a limb recently and how did it feel?

Choose a symbol to represent how that feels.

As you sit and ponder your New Moon intentions (you have written them out, haven’t you?!) ask yourself what first step you could take that would satisfy that symbol you’ve just come up with for yourself.

Describe that first step in detail.

Now, to take this exercise even further I’m going to ask you to be very Aquarian with your plan and to share it with the world-at-large or at least with your friends so that we can all learn from you. How will you do this? How does this idea make you feel?

An Abraxian Exercise

Go outside (especially at sunset) and wave your arms in the air as you let your fingers tingle and shimmy. You are Goddess Divine upholding the sky. Repeat 3 times after me:

“I AM GODDESS DIVINE”

“I AM GODDESS DIVINE”

“I AM GODDESS DIVINE”

Now, get out there and save the world, as only you can!

Aquarian Gemstone Messages

A Message from Opal:

Let yourself be colorful in a subtle way. Then one day surprise yourself by doing something wildly colorful, no holds barred – let your inner imp out to play and feel the freedom that accompanies your decision.

Now congratulate yourself on being brave and remember you can always switch gears and tone things down at any time, especially if you start to get carried away (having too much fun!)

A Message from Obsidian:

Don’t be afraid to take a chance on love – you’re worth it!

Sparkly Blessings to All!

Kathy Crabbe

Bio: Kathy Crabbe is a soul reader and artist who has devoted her life to exploring spirituality and creativity with passion and integrity. Her art and writing have been published and shown throughout the world at museum shows, galleries, magazines and books. Through online resources Kathy is able to help other soul seekers express their unique gifts and talents in empowering ways. She maintains two blogs and a website sharing her experiences with the psychic, intuitive realms and the world of art making. You can find her online at http://KathyCrabbe.com The artwork featured above is from Kathy’s Goddess Zodiac deck and Lefty Oracle deck, two of the four decks she incorporates into her soul readings.

Kathy is currently teaching Awaken the Divine Feminine” at the Wise Woman University. “I hope this course inspires you to discover and express your passionate, intuitive selves. As women I believe the moon can help guide and challenge us to know our instinctual, emotional self in a balanced, harmonious and soulful way. Isn’t it time you awakened the divine feminine within yourself?”

Virgo Full Moon Artist, Aimee Lou

Virgo Full Moon February 28th, 2010

8:38 am PST

Moon in Virgo encourages us to clean up our act, access and shore up our projects, tend to our health and dietary needs and address the stress factors in our lives. Excerpted from the We'Moon Datebook

This month's sole Virgoan creatrix is Aimee (otherwise known as Aimee Lou or Lou) from New Hampshire and wow, I can really identify with so much of what she has to say about being a Virgo 'cause I've got a whole bunch of it in my own chart! It sounds daunting, but sometimes folks forget that we also have a very whimsical and quirkily humorous side too.

Aimee Louise Terravechia

Manchester, New Hampshire

Shop: A-Lou Creations Blog: http://aloupaper.blogspot.com/

Being a Virgo has always influenced the way I work and create more than anything else in my life. I am a Virgo in every way! I'm a perfectionist, very practical and a complete loner.

I am a total introvert and when I had a day job I always kept to myself (which my bosses loved.) It works out well now that I work from home and it feels normal to spend the majority of my day in my own little world only venturing out for postage and supplies. I also love the "virtual" world because it has allowed me to communicate with other people while not being face-to-face. This of course, also gives me more time to be creative and doodle all of the things I have in my head.

Thanks For Being So Darn Sweet - Thank You Card

I also enjoy working with my hands quite a bit and I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I physically change something because it allows me to exercise the level of precision that I'm comfortable with; working in just the right scale to make everything look clean and "just right." I also love the feel of materials in my hands, especially paper and I think this comes from being an earth sign. Touching natural materials always gives me this connection to the earth and is something I love about what I do.

I'm also a "super" perfectionist which has been both positive and negative to my work-flow. I am very meticulous with my business and keep thorough records of everything. I also cut all of my greeting cards by hand and am simply not satisfied until they are absolutely perfect. This of course, is great for creating my own product and ensures high quality items. When I'm working on a new design however, it can distract me from my creative process. I constantly second-guess myself and can be really over-critical of my work. Luckily I have my husband Jake (a Pisces) who always helps me work through my self-frustration. He's a real sweetheart and can almost always quell my over-critical tendencies.

Happy Birthday in Braille - Greeting Card

Occasionally my attention to detail can cause me to ignore a bigger problem. I remember how I had printed and cut a card to size and then when I went to assemble it realized that I hadn't printed anything on the inside (which needs to be done before I assemble and cut it!) Needless to say I was kicking myself for forgetting such an important step. Luckily I've developed a routine (there's that Virgo practicality at play!) for printing that is fool-proof.

I love the design aspect of creating cards as well. It's really the perfect fit for me (and my sign.) It allows me to be creative but isn't such a big project that I get bogged down with the details. I do paint and draw, but I often get too focused on what I'm working on and end up "overworking" it.

Boy Meets Boy - Greeting Card

The business aspect is also a perfect fit. You wouldn't necessarily know it but greeting cards are a very practical thing to sell! Each card weighs the same so shipping costs are easy to calculate and each card also uses approximately the same amount of materials, so production costs are also easy to factor in. Each card also takes approximately the same amount of time to create and so labor time is also easy to estimate.

The logistics of designing and printing cards also makes it extremely easy for me to stay organized which is something that I hold dearer than life itself! I have all the files organized, clearly labeled and divided into sections on my laptop. (I think it looks beautiful but my husband can never see the beauty in it.) I also have shoebox organizers for extra cards organized by "type" and another organizer for invoices which I created at the same size as my cards so that I can organize them with uniform boxes. Most of my friends and family think I'm mad, but I look at my catalogues and organizers and I see my own personal Mona Lisa!

Poop - Belated Birthday Card

Of course I get a lot of joy out of the business aspect of things for the simple reason that I can make charts in Excel. I LOVE keeping track of sales and inventory and the like. Everything is color-coded and I even make line graphs to track my progress, it's so pretty.

Everything in my life, business and creative process is influenced by my Virgoan characteristics. My attention to detail, my love of organizational tools and my practicality all influence what I make and how I make it.

To read more Full Moon Artist features please click here.

Aquarius New Moon Artist Inspiration!

New Moon in AquariusFebruary 13, 2010 6:51 pm PST

This month I have managed to discover not one, but two Aquarian jewelers - these gals do love the rocks! Which isn't too strange actually because Aquarius does rule: obsidian, opals, pearls, quarries, stone, sapphires and slate! Surprised?!

Arona Offenberger

Melbourne, Australia

Shop: http://flossadornments.etsy.com Blog: http://abitoffloss.blogspot.com I’d never really given any thought as to how my Sun Sign (Aquarius) might influence my jewelry making or any other craft I’ve tried. I only started crafting in the last ten years. I’ve tried decoupage, mosaics and some scrap booking but now that I examine why I started making jewelry and the kinds of pieces I make, the Aquarian influence is completely obvious.

I have a day job but have been on leave since October 2008 after having my second child. Babies do take up a lot of time but after a while, I started needing to do something other than mothering. My motivation for making jewelry was to have some pieces to wear that weren’t mass-produced or bought in a store. I love handmade and I love the concept of one-of-a-kind, and I want to cater for others who feel the same. This trait is so typically Aquarian (if there is such a thing) and that is a desire to be unique, original and different by not following the crowd down the beaten path.

Black, white and grey resin bead necklace

Essentially, all of my jewelry is one-of-a-kind. I don’t ever make more than one of anything except by request and even then, it may not be possible, because when I buy beads, I only buy a few of each so that I can’t make multiples even if I wanted to. I do repeat design ideas but always with different colors and combinations.

I find that some artists and crafters show a preference for a particular medium or material, but I’m quite the eclectic Aquarian in the pieces I produce. I use a wide variety of beads and materials with no preference for one style or another. I also want to create pieces that will appeal to people with a range of different personal tastes and aesthetics and I think I achieve that in my work.

Sometimes I wonder whether other people will understand or even like my aesthetic. It’s very interesting to get feedback from people about which items they like. I’m always surprised by the variety of responses, but to me, it justifies the diverse range of pieces I produce. I suppose I want to have broad-ranging appeal but within the niche of “handmade”.

Long flapper-style necklace in white, red, purple and turquoise

Aquarians are known for seeking out new experiences to avoid boredom. I love trying out new techniques, designs and color combinations or working with new material. If I don’t know how to do something, I’ll “Google” it (Aquarians love technology) and usually find a plethora of instructions and videos to satisfy my need to learn. Some days I tell myself I will try to focus on only a few styles of jewelry but it never happens: I get excited by some new beads I’ve seen that I absolutely must try out or by a new idea my overactive brain has come up with instead of letting me sleep.

At the moment, I’m playing with polymer clay and making my own pendants and beads, but I’m adapting and experimenting with the basic techniques that I’ve learned to suit what I want to achieve. I’m not one for following instructions to the letter, I’m just an unconventional Aquarian doing things her own way.

Necklace with hand stamped quote on sterling silver tag necklace

Personal space and time are other Aquarian necessities I can’t do without. Making jewelry is a great form of therapy for me, especially at the end of a hectic day spent entertaining and running around after two young children. The fiddly aspect of making jewelry, like hand-stringing beads or aligning the ends of jump rings is a perfect way to unwind and switch my brain down into a calmer mode. There are also days where I’m not feeling very inspired but I can spend hours on the computer browsing for supplies, maintaining my online store and working on marketing. I love having this time by myself, I need this time by myself.

In the future, and Aquarians are definitely known for this, I'd love to continue with my hobby and turn it into a day job, but I expect that's a long way off.

To read more New Moon Artist Features please click here.